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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Live Reporting: Holyoke Council to Vote on Gary Rome Hyundai Zoning Bid

The
unanimous vote of a committee last week could signal approval from the City
Council Tuesday (May 19) of a zone change for a $10 million Gary RomeHyundai dealership.

Follow
along as live coverage of the 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall is posted in the
comments section under this story.

The
council Ordinance Committee voted 4-0 last week to recommend that the full City
Council grant Rome a zone
change for nearly 19 acres of vacant property on Whiting Farms Road. The
Planning Board also recommended Rome
get the zone change.

To
build an auto dealership, Rome
needs a zone change to Business Highway from the current Business General. The
property is on the part of Whiting Farms Road across from Autumn and Lynch
drives.

Rome has agreed to
buy the property from the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department (HGE) for
$2,050,000, contingent on getting the zone change.

The new
dealership will produce 50 new full-time and some part-time jobs along with
thousands of dollars a year to the city in property taxes, Rome said.

The Gary RomeHyundai at 1000 Main St. will
stay open regardless of what happens with the Whiting Farms Road site, he said.

At a
crowded public hearing on the zone-change petition March 31, most speakers
urged approval of the zone change for Rome. Speakers included Mayor Alex B.
Morse, the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and several Rome employees.

But an
accompanying zone-change petition the City Council also will vote on Tuesday
tells a different story about the Whiting Farms Road site.

Residents,
including former councilor Helen F. Norris, Gayle Keith and Terri Laramee, are
seeking a different zoning designation for the same property Rome is targeting.
They want the zone changed to RM-20, which stands for Multi-Family Residence at
20 units per acre. The uses are generally housing with limited commercial uses
like bed and breakfast, funeral home, hospital and nursing home.

Such
uses are more compatible for the neighborhood and less of an intrusion into
residents' quality of life than an auto dealer, they said.

The
Ordinance Committee at the May 12 meeting voted 3-1 to recommend against
adopting the RM-20 zone change.

Also
watch for:

--City Council consideration of
a 5-0 recommendation from the Ordinance Committee to grant a zone change to
James P. Lavelle Jr. to allow for auto sales at the family-run JP's Restaurant
& Sports Bar at 200 Whiting Farms Road.

Lavelle
needs a zone change to Business Highway from the current Business General. He
said he would sell a maximum of four used vehicles at a time.

--A
proposal from Councilor at Large James M. Leahy and other councilors to give a
proclamation to Lawrence Jackson Sr. who retired Thursday after nearly 36 years
as a firefighter. Jackson, 59, was the city's first black firefighter. His
first day was Aug. 8, 1979.

--Councilor
at Large Rebecca Lisi's proposal to establish an ordinance to give to Planning
Board members the $4,000-a-year stipends the city had been paying to each
member of the board of directors of the Holyoke Geriatric Authority.

The
authority was a nursing home at 45 Lower Westfield Road that closed last year.
It was overseen by a board of seven, which consisted of three members appointed
by the mayor and three by the City
Council, with those six voting in a seventh.

"The
dissolution of the Geriatric Authority frees up a small sum of money that may
be used to compensate the (volunteer) members of the very active and labor
intensive Planning Board," Lisi said.

The
Planning Board has five members and an associate member. Board members are appointed
by the mayor.